Stratego Sci-Fi surveyed more than 2,000 Brits to discover the top 100 SF characters of all time, and Superman came out on top.

Harrison Ford’s gruff but lovable rogue Han Solo came second, with Frank Oz’s Jedi master Yoda coming third, both representing Star Wars in the top three and rounding it out firmly in George Lucas’ favour.

Steven Spielberg’s ET may be one of the most lovable characters of all time, but he only made it to fourth in the list, followed by Will Smith’s Agent J from Men In Black at number five.

Surprise omissions from the top ten include Doc Brown of Back To The Future fame, who only managed 15th, and Spock, who warped in at 11th place – however his captain, James T Kirk, did the Enterprise proud, becoming the highest ranked Star Trek character at number seven.

Elsewhere in the top 100, a whopping eight Doctor Who characters made it into the list, with the Daleks proving the strongest of the bunch. The extra-terrestrial villains claimed 13th in the poll, exterminating the Time Lord himself, who took 20th place. Torchwood‘s enigmatic Captain Jack Harkness came just 46th.

Ellen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver’s hard-as-nails heroine from the Alien series, was the highest-ranked woman at number 21, defeating the likes of Star Wars‘ Princess Leia – who came in at 25 – The Terminator‘s Sarah Connor (29) and alien super-sleuth Dana Scully from The X Files (32).

Buffy Summers – Sarah Michelle Gellar’s iconic vampire-slayer – was the seventh strongest place woman at 50th, holding a 17-place lead ahead of her on/off love interest Angel, who came in at 67th place.

Katherine Pierce, Marketing Manager for Stratego Sci-Fi, said: “As sci-fi fans ourselves we knew the results from the poll would be tight, but we’re thrilled that the nation has voted Superman top. He is the archetypal hero – and clearly as popular now as he was when he first appeared in comic-books over 70 years ago.”

Stratego is the classic game of battlefield strategy in which two players must command an army of soldiers, machines, scouts and miners and use strategic attack and clever deception to break through their opponent’s line and capture the flag.